SRI LANKAN MILK RICE

The authentic Sri Lankan milk rice, which has a sticky texture, basically requires rice and raw coconut milk. Some variations are available, by mixing green gram and that particular dish known as "Mung Kiribath" in Sinhala. Following is an easy milk rice recipe using Basmati rice and UHT coconut milk.

"Milk Rice" is a traditional Sri Lankan cuisine which is regarded as an auspicious food that symbolises luck, happiness and prosperity.

This particular dish, which is also known as "Kiribath" in Sinhala, is prepared by many Sri Lankans for different types of occasions such as Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Independence Day, first day of school, house warming ceremonies, first day of starting a new business, etc. Apart from that some people are used to prepare this dish for breakfast on the first day of every month. 

Sri Lankan milk rice recipe may have some kind of correlation with the common rice pudding, since rice pudding is a versatile dish and also found in every part of the world. When considering alternative rice pudding dishes, Nordic countries make rice porridge, in Indian subcontinent it is known as " Kheer" while in South India there is another dish called "Payasm", in South East Asian countries glutinous rice porridge is common and in Spain and some Latin American countries it is known as "Arroz con leche".

INGREDIENTS

• Rice - 2 standard rice cups of Basmati
• Coconut milk - 200 ml of UHT coconut milk mixed with (50 - 100) ml of water
• Salt - ½ teaspoon

METHOD

• Step 1: Wash the rice and put it into a rice cooker.
• Step 2: Add enough amount of water to completely cook the rice and switch on the rice cooker. Press the cook button and let the rice to cook.
• Step 3: After 15 - 20 minutes; when the rice is completely cooked, open the rice cooker to check and you can observe the water has evaporated and there is only little wetness on the surface of the cooked rice.
• Step 4: At this point, mix the salt with coconut milk and pour it into the rice cooker and mix it well to blend the coconut milk with cooked rice.
• Step 5: Close the rice cooker lid and press the cook button again. Allow the rice to cook with coconut milk for another 5 - 10 minutes. This will allow cooked rice to completely absorb the coconut milk.
• Step 6: Once the rice cooker indicates that the cooking is complete, open the rice cooker and stir the milk rice.
• Step 7: Take out the milk rice and spread it on a plate, tray or a flat surface. Cut the into small square shape pieces or any preferred shape and allow to settle it for few minutes.
• Step 8: Once the milk rice is cool down a little, separate the pieces and serve.

This has a milky taste and can be eaten alone without any addition. But according to common Sri Lankan practise, most people eat this with a spicy sambal paste which is known as "Lunu Miris" in Sinhala and some people eat this with a fish or chicken curry. Furthermore, some people like to eat milk rice with a jaggery and coconut mix sambal paste known as "Pol Pani" in Sinhala, which is commonly used as a filling. 

The above recipe is enough for 4 people. If your requirement is different you can adjust the ingredient quantities accordingly. The standard rice cup size I used was 180 ml. Normally depending on the rice variety you use; the water requirement for initial cooking, amount of salt needed and also the quantity of coconut milk required can be vary because the quality of absorbing and time taken for cooking is different between rice varieties. 

Besides, the thickness of coconut milk can be different depending on the brand you use. Accordingly, the amount of water required to mix with coconut milk (in order to get the required consistency) might get slightly varied. If not, you can use homemade raw coconut milk with the preferred thickness.

Therefore it is better to first understand the characteristic of the type of rice you use as well as the thickness of the coconut milk, in order to have a good quality milk rice without getting overcooked or undercooked. Or else you can try with a small quantity first.

I would love to hear your experience in preparing different types of rice puddings or milk rice. If you have any query, opinion or an idea, do not hesitate to leave a comment below. Also you can follow my Facebook page Cuisines in Style to see the updates. In addition you can tag @cuisines_in_style in your Instagram posts, so that I can see your creative rice pudding ideas.